Method and apparatus for loading stacks of cartons of frozen animal products onto vessels using a carrier

ABSTRACT

A method for rapid loading of stacks of cartons aboard vessels is provided which may include sliding the stacks of cartons from a pallet onto a carrier having fork channels for receiving the blades of a load push lift truck, lifting the carrier into the hold of a ship, removing the stacks of cartons from the carrier using a second load push lift truck and stowing the stack of cartons in a stowage location using the second load push lift truck. The carrier may be used to insert slings about palletless stacks of cartons positioned thereon and the stack of cartons may be moved into the hold of the ship by the ship&#39;s gear or other crane. The slings may be withdrawn from about the stack of cartons by releasing one end of the slings and using, for example, the ship&#39;s gear to draw the other slings out from around the stack of cartons.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of the copending applicationSer. No. 11/301,838 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Loading Stacks ofCartons of Frozen Animal Products onto Vessels Using a Carrier”, filedSep. 7, 2006, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/655,856,filed Sep. 6, 2003, which is a divisional of application Ser. No.10/268,182, filed Oct. 9, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,854, which is acontinuation in part of the copending application Ser. No. 09/712,741,filed Nov. 13, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of the copendingapplication entitled “Method and Apparatus for Handling, Transporting,Pallet Removal, and Loading Cartons of Frozen Animal Products OntoVessels”, filed Apr. 30, 1999, Ser. No. 09/303,792, now abandoned, whichis a continuation-in-part of the issued patent entitled “Method andApparatus for Handling, Transporting and Loading Cartons of FrozenAnimal Products Onto Vessels”, issued Nov. 9, 1999, U.S. Pat. No.5,980,198.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of cargo handling, and inparticular, to the rapid depalletizing and loading of cartons of frozenanimal products onto a refrigerated vessel.

2. Background of the Invention

While there have been significant advances in the methods employed forthe loading and unloading of vessels, the loading of refrigerated,cartonized cargo, and in particular, frozen animal products has provedparticularly difficult due to several intractable problems. As a result,the transfer of the products from the packers to their loading aboard avessel is presently carried out by processes that involve high costs andsignificant expenditure of manual labor, and which include bottlenecksthat slow the process, that may result in product degradation orspoilage, and that result in long loading times for the product onto thevessel. It is presently common for the handling of cartons of frozenanimal products to proceed as follows.

A large volume of animal products such as frozen chicken, turkey, beef,pork and seafood products (including livers, hearts, other parts,deboned meat and the like) are frozen and shipped within and exportedfrom the U.S. in relatively shallow, rectangular boxes. For example,chicken thighs, legs or quarters may be shipped in cartons of about 23.5inches in length by 16.5 inches in width by 4 to 6.25 inches in height(59.7 cm by 41.9 cm by 10.2 to 15.9 cm). A preferred standardized boxsize for use with the present invention would be 24 inches by 16 inches(61.0 cm by 40.6 cm) with the height of the box varied to hold theparticular products to be shipped. A box of such dimensions containingfrozen chicken parts may weigh on the order of 30 to 45 pounds (14 to 20kg).

As the cartons are generally filled fairly completely with unfrozenanimal products, and the animal products are subsequently frozen whilein the carton, the cartons of frozen animal products tend to becomparatively resistant to compressive forces. The cartons may also beslightly distorted from their rectangular shape owing to volume changesaccompanying freezing and to their handling and stacking. Forsimplicity, reference will hereafter be made to cartons of frozenchicken, as other animal products may be handled in a similar manner.

Owing to the size restrictions imposed by standard trucks and trailers,the cartons are normally stacked on 40×48 inch (102×122 cm) pallets inlayers of five cartons arranged with two cartons placed on the pallet inan end-to-end relationship beside three cartons placed side to side withtheir long axes perpendicular to those of the first two cartons. Whilethe exact size of the stack of cartons may vary depending on the exactdimensions of the cartons, stacks of cartons and layers of such stackswill be referred to herein as having the foregoing dimensions or havinga wider side of 48 inches (122 cm) and a narrower side of 40 inches (102cm). These dimensions are, however, approximate, and may vary not onlydepending on the box dimensions, but also from such factors as bulgingof the cartons of frozen chicken and irregularities in the stackingpattern. In general, however, the cartons have a relatively low aspectratio (length divided by height). For example, a 4″ tall by 16″ longcarton would have an aspect ratio of 0.25. This is significantly lowerthan, for example, the common apple boxes.

A palletload of cartons generally contains between about 10 to 12 suchlayers of cartons. A palletload of cartons arranged in this manner wouldhave five cartons per layer. A 12 layer stack of cartons weighing 30pounds (14 kg) would thus weigh about 1800 pounds (818 kg). Three suchstacks of cartons would thus weigh about 5400 pounds (2454 kg, equal to2.454 metric tons).

Although it is the general practice to use pallets having dimensions of40×48 inches (102×122 cm) in the frozen animal products industry, whichfacilitate loading thereof into enclosed vans or trailers, 48×48 inchpallets (122×122 cm), which hold six rather than five cartons per layer,are sometimes used. In such case, the cartons are generally arranged inlayers, each such layer having two rows of three cartons with the threecartons of each row in side-to-side arrangement.

The stacking pattern for either the 48×48 or 40×48 inch pallets (122×122cm or 102×122 cm) may be varied, as by rotating it from layer to layer.For the 40×48 inches (102×122 cm) pallets, for example, the twoend-to-end cartons may be arranged along one of the long edges of thepallet in one layer and along the other long edge in the next layer.

Presently, wooden pallets are typically made of three parallel beamsarranged with a center beam and two outer beams on either side thereof.Boards or other such support members are nailed, stapled or otherwisefastened to the upper and lower surfaces of the beams transversely tothe beams to form the upper and lower surfaces of the pallet. Liftchannels extending parallel to the beams are thus formed between theupper and lower transversely-mounted boards. Apertures may be providedin the beams along their lower edges and/or boards may be removed fromthe lower pallet surface in the area of the apertures to permitinsertion of lift truck blades into the pallet transversely to the beamsand lift channels (these are often called “4-way” pallets, as a lifttruck can insert the lift blades into the pallet from any of fourdirections).

The packer sends the fresh chicken parts in such palletloads to a blastfreezer/cold storage warehouse. At the warehouse, the cartons arerestacked with spacers between the layers thereof. The spacers allow thecirculation of air between the layers of cartons. Once the cartons areso stacked, the palletload of cartons are transferred to a blastfreezer, which forces air chilled to about −40.degree. F. (−40.degree.C.) between and around the cartons. The chicken parts should be cooledin the blast freezer to 0.degree. F. (−17.7.degree. C.) and should beheld at that temperature. When the freezing process is completed, thecartons are removed from the blast freezer and placed in a rotator. Theload of cartons is then rotated 90 degrees onto its side, the spacersare removed, and the load of cartons is then rotated back to an uprightposition in which it rests once more on the pallet. In order tofacilitate transportation and storage of the stacks of cartons, thestacks may be, and typically are, wrapped with a stretchable plasticfilm to help reduce sliding of the layers of cartons relative to oneanother. Lift trucks are then used to move the cartons of frozen chickenproducts and transport them into the cold storage warehouse.

When the time comes to load a ship, lift trucks are used to remove thepalletloads of stacks of cartons of chicken parts from the warehouse,and place them inside dry van trucks or truck trailers fortransportation to the dock. The trucks or truck trailers are typicallyuninsulated and unrefrigerated, and thus can provide a deleteriousenvironment to the frozen product contained therein if they are not soonloaded into a refrigerated ship. At the dock, the cartons are removedfrom the truck trailer by lift trucks and placed on the dock.Alternatively, if the cold storage warehouse is sufficiently near to thedock, the lift trucks may transport the palletloads of stacks of cartonsdirectly to the dock. In either case, the palletloads of stacks ofcartons are subsequently lifted into the hold using the ship's gear,such as by using slings, lifting platforms, lift cages, flying forks orthe like to lift the cartons and pallets.

Many of the ships transporting cartons of frozen chicken internationallyare older vessels having ship's gear with a three-ton (metric) ratedcapacity. This permits them to lift up to three stacks of cartons at atime, depending on the weight of the stacks and of the gear used to liftthem. However, other ships may have cranes with capacities of five ormore tons. The mass of lift cages, of course, can be substantial,approaching one ton for a lift cage that can be used to lift two stacksof cartons. Thus, with three-ton ship's gear, it would generally only bepossible to lift two stacks of cartons into the hold of the vessel at atime.

In the hold, lift trucks engage the pallets and transport the palletswith their stacks of cartons to locations near where the cartons will bestowed. Stevedores then manually remove the cartons from the pallets andstack the cartons without pallets for shipping. The pallets are thenreturned to the square of the hatch and are stacked to be hoisted out ofthe hold and back onto the dock by the ship's gear. The square of thehatch is the volume of space extending vertically downward from the openhatch to the floor of the cargo hold.

This process is quite inefficient. Delays in bringing a sufficientquantity of product to the dock and in unloading the cartons from thetruck can increase the time needed to load the vessel. The spaceconstraints in the vessel limit the number of workers who can be engagedin stowing of the cartons, and thus may create a backup for productarriving at the dock. Excessive delays in loading which result in thecartons being left on the dock or in the truck can allow the product tobegin to thaw, which can result in spoilage or otherwise render theproduct unmarketable. Delay in loading may also result in increasedcondensation of moisture on the cartons which can complicate thehandling process. As the industry is seeking to use less wax on thecartons and to utilize paper-coated boxes, the damaging effect ofcondensation and internal thawing on the boxes is increased.

The breakage rate for pallets during this process is fairly high. Asmany as half of the pallets suffer some breakage, and this can result insplintered wood, which may contain protruding nails, being left at thewarehouse, on the dock and in the cargo hold of the vessel. Additionalwork is thus required to collect the pallets and pallet debris, toextract it from the hold of the ship or remove it from the dock, and torepair or discard the broken pallets. Further, the existence of palletdebris at the warehouse, on the dock, and in particular in the hold ofthe vessel, presents a risk of injury to workers.

Inefficient as this method of handling may be, there are a number ofconstraints that have made it difficult to improve. The main problemencountered is that the holds of the ship are irregular both in theoverhead clearance and in the shape of the floor space. Not only doesthe overhead clearance of the cargo holds vary from ship to ship, andperhaps within a ship from hold to hold, the internal structure of thevessel and of the cooling system within it can result in overheadclearances that vary depending on the location within the hold.

Another difficulty in loading such cargoes is that the cartons aretypically stacked to a uniform height after blast freezing. This isnecessary for efficient use of the cold storage warehouse. This uniformheight is generally ten or twelve layers of boxes arranged on a lifttruck pallet, but it may vary somewhat from this number depending on thesize of the cartons. The cartons are unitized by wrapping them with astretchable plastic film that aids in transportation of the palletloadsby lift truck, etc. However, space on refrigerated vessels is at such apremium that the wasted space of such pallets is considered undesirable.Thus, it has been considered necessary to avoid stowing the cartons onthe pallets, and thus the practice of manually stowing the cartons inthe ship by restacking them without the pallets has persisted. Moreover,since the ceiling height of holds on ships varies, and is seldom equalto the height of the cartons when stacked for warehousing purposes, ithas heretofore been considered essential to manually stack the cartonsin order to obtain as complete a filling of the vessel as possible.

Load push lift trucks have been used to push cargo off the lift truckblades. A load push lift truck has at least two blades extending fromits lift mechanism. Typically, the blades are relatively broad, and mayhave relatively smooth or polished upper surfaces to facilitate thesliding of the cartons thereon. A push plate associated with the liftmechanism can be extended by means of hydraulic cylinders from aretracted position adjacent the lift mechanism to a position adjacentthe ends of the blades. If the stack of cartons is resting on the bladesof the lift truck, the push mechanism may also be used to push thecartons off the blades and/or to extract the blades from under cargo asthe lift truck moves backward away from the desired position of thestack of cartons. Such a lift truck may include a side-shift mechanismwhich permits small lateral adjustments in the position of the cargo tofacilitate its precise placement. Such load-push lift trucks are knownin the art of specialized lift trucks

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Parent U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,198 of common ownership and inventorship,which is incorporated herein by this reference, describes the lifting ofpalletless stacks of cartons into the hold of a ship using cargo slings.Lift trucks, and particularly load push or load push side shift lifttrucks may be used for handling of stacks of cartons on pallets and forlifting palletless stacks of cartons.

One aspect of the invention provides a method for transportation ofcartons of frozen products from alongside a refrigerated vessel into thehold of the vessel. In one aspect, palletloads of stacks of cartons maybe positioned adjacent a carrier and pushed laterally from the palletonto the carrier. Despite the weight of the stack of cartons, the stackmay be pushed from the pallet in a direction generally parallel to thelong axes of the boards forming the upper surface of a wooden pallet. Aload push lift truck which is provided with sufficient clearance betweenthe top of the blades and the bottom of the push plate so that the pushplate may be extended over the upper surface of the pallet while theblades are inserted into 4-way apertures may be used for this purpose.The carrier may then be lifted into the hold of a ship. The carrier maybe provided with fork channels, open channels of sufficient depth andspacing that can receive the blades (the forks) of the lift truck. Thispermits lifting of the palletless stack of cartons from the carrier fortransport to a stowage location. The stack of cartons may be depositedat the storage location by sliding it relative to the long axis of theforks of the lift truck to deposit it in the stowage location. Dependingon the configuration of the carrier, a lift truck with multiple sets ofblades may be used to load two or more stacks of cartons onto thecarrier at a time by use of the load push mechanism.

In another aspect of the invention, if the carrier is provided with forkchannels, a lift truck may pick up the stack of cartons directly oncethe carrier is landed in the cargo hold of the ship. The load push lifttruck may position the push mechanism in its fully retracted positionand slides its blades into the fork channels under the stack of cartons.Thereafter, the entire stack of cartons may be transported to itsstowage location or to a position near its stowage location, includingstowage locations on top of another stack of cartons.

In another aspect of the invention, a roller deck may be used. Theroller deck may be positioned alongside a vessel, and may include aplurality of parallel rollers or sets of wheels mounted along itslength. At one end, the loading end, stacks of cartons may be pushedfrom pallets onto the rollers. At the other end, the slinging end, gapsin the rollers allow cargo slings to be extended across the roller deckfor lifting the stacks of cartons into the hold of a vessel and/orlifting of stacks of cartons on the blades of lift trucks. The stacks ofcartons may be manually or automatically pushed from the loading end tothe slinging end of the roller bed, or the roller bed may be inclinedsuch that the stacks of cartons roll down from the loading end to theslinging end of the roller bed. A spreader bar with multiple hooks alongits length that are capable of receiving the ends of the slings may beattached to the ship's gear or other crane and used to pick up multiplestacks of cartons at a time from the slinging end of the roller deck. Insuch case, the stacks of cartons are landed on a landing pad in the holdof the vessel. The landing pad may include fork channels to allow lifttrucks to pick the stacks of cartons up, and to allow the slings to bewithdrawn from around the stacks of cartons. Stacks of cartonspositioned side by side may be lifted by a single set of slings witheach sling in the set extending under both stacks of cartons.

When the loading of the hold is completed except for the area under thesquare of the hatch, in another embodiment of the invention, the loadpush lift truck and other equipment and materials may be removed fromthe hold. Thereafter, the square of the hatch may be filled by using theship's gear to lift one or more stacks of cartons from alongside intothe square of the hatch using cargo slings disposed about the stack.Multiple stacks of cartons may be lifted at one time if a spreader baror like apparatus is used.

In another aspect of the invention, the slings may be positioned aboutthe stack of cartons by positioning the carrier or other apparatushaving channels extending thereacross beside the ship, depositing stacksof cartons without pallets on such carrier or apparatus, extending twoor more slings around each such stack of cartons and lifting the stacksof cartons from the carrier by the slings by passing the eyes on eitherend of the sling over the hook or other such lifting device attached tothe end of the cable of the ship's gear. When positioned in the squareof the hatch, one side of each sling may be removed, preferably the sideabutting any other stacks of cartons adjacent to such landed stack, andthe slings can be pulled under the stack of cartons and between thestack and any adjacent stack by the ship's gear. The slings may thus bereturned by the ship's gear to a position alongside the ship for reuse.Of course, in order to speed the loading of the square of the hatch, theslings may be left in place. Some manual restacking of cartons to fillthe square of the hatch may be necessary in order to avoid the wastingof space in the cargo hold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a ship adapted to be loaded withstacks of cartons of frozen animal products.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a typical 4-way wooden pallet.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a typical 4-way wooden pallet.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carrier according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carrier of FIG. 4 being loaded withstacks of cartons of frozen animal products by load push lift trucks.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the carrier of FIG. 4 with a stack ofcartons of frozen animal products being removed therefrom by a load pushlift truck.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the carrier of FIG. 4 with cargo slingspositioned in the fork channels thereof.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of cartons being lifted from the carrier ofFIG. 4 using cargo slings.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of cartons of frozen animal products beinglanded in the square of the hatch of a ship.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of an end portion of a cargo sling.

FIG. 11A is a front elevation of a light-weight carrier according toanother embodiment of the invention bearing three stacks of cartons.

FIG. 11B is a top plan view of the carrier of FIG. 11A without stacks ofcartons loaded thereon.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the carrier of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of a layer of cartons arranged in a 3-2pattern, with lifting zones shown in phantom.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a landing pad capable of receiving asingle stack of cartons.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a landing pad capable of receivingthree stacks of cartons.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a roller deck according to oneembodiment of the invention, showing three stacks of cartons beingremoved at the slinging end and two stacks of cartons being loaded fromthe side onto the roller deck at the loading end.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a pallet table positioned adjacent oneside of a portion of a roller deck.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an end-loading roller deck being loadedby a load push lift truck.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a double-wide, end-loading roller deckbeing loaded by a load push lift truck.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a depalletizer being loaded with astack of cartons by a load push lift truck.

FIG. 20A is a perspective view of a roller depalletizer.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a stack of cargons being removed fromthe depalletizer of FIG. 20 by a lift truck.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a roller landing pad.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a landing pad with fork channels forlifting stacks of cartons from either the 40″ or 48″ side of stacks ofcartons.

FIG. 24 is a sectional side view of a push plate for a load push lifttruck having a hinged lower gate.

FIG. 25 is a sectional side view of a push plate for a load push lifttruck having a telescoping lower gate.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a stack of cartons being deposited in astowage location in the hold of a ship by a load push lift truck.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a landing pad.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts a ship 10 tied up alongside a dock. The ship is providedwith ship's gear 12 for loading and unloading the ship 10. The ship'sgear 12 is provided with a cable 14 that may be extended and retractedusing a winch system (not shown). The deck 16 of the ship 10 is providedwith one or more hatches 18. The ship's gear 12 is used to lift cargofrom alongside the ship 10 into the hold 20 of the ship 10. Typically, aship 10 has a plurality of such holds 20, each of which is accessible bymeans of a hatch 18. Ships used to transport frozen products aretypically provided with refrigeration apparatus for maintaining theholds 20 at a low temperature.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side elevation views of a standard 4-way pallet 30, onwhich a variety of cargo may be stacked. Such pallets are commonly usedfor holding and transporting stacks of cartons, including stacks ofcartons of frozen animal products, such as frozen chicken parts, frozenorgan meat, such as liver and kidney, or other frozen animal products.As is known in the art, the 4-way pallet 30 comprises a center beam 32,which runs the length of the pallet 30, and two side beams 34 whichlikewise run the length of the pallet 30 and which are disposed alongopposite edges of the pallet 30.

The upper and lower surfaces 36, 38 of the pallet 30 are formed by aplurality of boards 40 which extend across the width of the pallet andwhich are fastened to the beams 32, 34 by nails, screws or otherfasteners. Cutouts 42 are provided along of the lower edges of the beams32, 34. The boards 40 which make up the lower surface 38 of the pallet30 do not cover the area of the cutouts 42. As is well known in the artof cargo handling, a lift truck may lift the pallet 30 either byinserting its blades in the closed-top fork channels 44 (best shown inFIG. 2) and then using the lifting gear to raise the forks and thepallet 30. The pallet may also be lifted by inserting the blades (forksor platens) of a lift truck through the channels formed by the cutouts42 in the beams 32, 34 and then raising the blades.

Load push, side shift lift trucks are known in the art of specialty lifttrucks. Such lift trucks are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.4,752,179 to Seaberg. A lift truck usable according to the presentinvention may include two relatively flat blades which may convenientlyhave a width of 4 to 8 inches (10.2 to 20.3 cm), and may include sideshift capability. The blades may be smooth and preferably polished, andmay have rounded or tapered edges. The load push system should besufficiently powerful to push a full stack of cartons of frozen chickenparts or the like off of the blades and into a stowage location, such asa position atop another stack of cartons.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carrier 50 according to one embodimentof the present invention. The carrier 50, which may be made ofrectangular steel tubing, steel I-beams and/or steel plate, ispreferably welded together, but may be made of other materials, such asaluminum, and may be assembled using bolts or other fasteners, or byother means known in the art. The carrier 50 is comprised of a base 52and an upright center stop 54. As shown in FIG. 4, the center stop 54 ofthe present embodiment includes a lower, generally rectangular section56 and a generally triangular lifting section 58. A clevis 62 it ismounted through an aperture in a plate 60 at the apex of the liftingsection 58. The clevis 62 is adapted to receive a hook 64 attached tothe free end of the cable 14 of a ship's gear 12 or other such liftingdevice.

The rectangular section 56 of the center stop 54 may be of any desireddimensions, but in the present embodiment, is relatively thin and isapproximately as tall and wide as a stack of cartons of frozen chickenparts or the like. The center stop 54 of the present embodiment may haveas great a height as may be conveniently use for the purposes hereof. Aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the art, an increased height ofthe center stop 54 will reduce the degree of tipping of the carrier 30under asymmetric loads, for example, when only a single stack of cartonsmounted on one side only of the carrier is being lifted. Of course, ifthe center stop 54 is too tall, such height may make the carrier 50difficult to transport and store, and may increase the overall weight ofthe carrier 50. The base 52 of the carrier 50 is generally planar instructure. The base 52 of the carrier 50 of the present embodiment maybe made of steel plate, of steel plate welded to a frame made ofrectangular steel tubing or I-beams, or the like, so long as it issufficiently rigid to bear the weight of stacks of cartons of frozenchicken without undue flexure, and is sufficiently light that thecombined weight of the carrier and the cargo is within the load limitsof the ship's gear 12. The center stop 54 is mounted transversely to thelong axis of the base 52 across the middle section thereof, and suchmounting should be sufficiently rigid to accommodate asymmetrical loadssuch as those mentioned above.

A plurality of fork channels 66 are formed in the surface of the base 52for receiving the blades of a lift truck. If lift trucks having twoforks are used, then the carrier 50 should be provided with two forkchannels 66 on each side of the center stop 54. If fork lifts with morethan two forks are used, then a corresponding number of fork channels 66should be provided on each side. The depth of the channels 66 should besufficient to allow insertion of the lift truck blades therein beneath astack of cartons of frozen chicken placed on top of the base 52 when thestack of cartons of frozen chicken are supported by the upper surfaceportions 68 of the base 52.

The walls 70 of the sling channels 66 which face away from the base 52are angled upwardly and inwardly toward the center stop to facilitatethe sliding of stacks of cartons of frozen chicken onto the base 52 ofthe carrier 50 and into contact with the center stop 54. The outer edgesof the base 52 function as pallet stops 72, as will be explained ingreater detail below. While the carrier 50 is shown as having two areasfor placement of stacks of cartons of frozen chicken, configurationshaving a greater or lesser number, such as one or three or four suchareas, may be designed, as will be appreciated by those skilled in theart.

In one embodiment of a method according to the present invention, acarrier 50 is used to lift depalletized stacks of cartons of frozenanimal products. The embodiments of the invention will be described withreference to cartons of frozen chicken parts or frozen chicken forconvenience, even though they are applicable to other frozen animalproducts stored in similar cartons.

Referring next to FIG. 5, a load push lift truck 80 (or side shift, loadpush lift truck) is used to lift a 4-way pallet 30 bearing a stack ofcartons of frozen chicken 82 by inserting the blades of the lift truckinto the cutouts 42 of the 4-way pallet 30. The pallet 30 and stack ofcartons 82 may then be lifted by raising the blades of the lift truck.In the method of the present embodiment, the lift truck carries thepallet 30 to a position in which the side of the pallet 30 opposite thelift truck 80 abuts or is in close proximity to the pallet stop 72 ofthe base 52 of the carrier 50. The pallet 30 and stack 82 may then belowered to the ground and the stack of cartons of frozen chicken 82 maythen be pushed from the pallet 30 in a direction generally parallel tothe long axis of the boards 40 of the pallet 30. The direction ofsliding of the stack of cartons from such a pallet 30 may be chosen toreduce abrasion of the lower surfaces of the cartons in the bottom layerof the stack of cartons to acceptable levels consistent with themaintenance of quality standards for the frozen products contained inthe cartons. Tearing through of the cartons to expose the frozen animalproducts is generally considered undesirable. Of course, if the uppersurface of the pallet 30 is sufficiently smooth, or any edges aresufficiently beveled, the direction of sliding of the stack of cartonsrelative to the pallet 30 may not cause sufficient abrasion to the lowersurfaces of the cartons to be of concern. With standard pallets 30,pushing the stack of cartons of frozen animal products 82 may besuccessfully accomplished without the use of slip sheets or the like.

Slip sheets present special challenges in the handling of cartons offrozen animal products. First, the cost of the slip sheets is such thatit is not generally economical to stow the stacks of cartons with theslip sheets. Further, if the slip sheets are carried into the hold of aship with the intent that they will not be stowed with the cartons, theymust be collected and removed from the ship. Finally, if the cartons arecarried into the ship with slip sheets on slings or by carriers, and ifthey are thereafter lifted by lift trucks and stowed with the cartons,they can block vertical airflow in the hold. As many refrigeratedvessels depend on vertical airflow for cooling, this may result inimproper cooling of the frozen animal products during shipment, withattendant spoilage.

In the present embodiment, the bottom of the push plate of the load pushlift truck 80 is provided with sufficient clearance over the forks thatthe push plate can engage the stack of cartons 82 without engaging thepallet. Four inches (10 cm) of clearance of the push plate over theblades of the lift truck should be sufficient with most standardpallets, but if taller pallets are used, additional clearance may berequired.

According to the present embodiment, stacks of cartons 82 of frozenchicken 30 may be pushed off of pallets in this direction without unduedamage to the bottom of the bottom layer of the stack of cartons 82. Theinclined face of the walls 70 further aid in avoiding damage to thecartons. Should the leading edge of any of the cartons of the stack ofcartons 82 droop in the fork channels 66 to a level below the uppersurface 68 of the base 52 of the carrier, the slope of the walls 70 ofthe fork channels 66 will urge the drooping comers back upward to thelevel of the upper surface 68 of the base 52. The stack of cartons maybe pushed into engagement or close proximity to the center stop 54 ofthe carrier 50.

While the simultaneous loading of two stacks of cartons of frozenchicken 82 onto the carrier 50 by different lift trucks from oppositedirections will reduce the risk of the carrier 50 being pushed along thedock, it should generally be possible for one lift truck 80 to load thecarrier 50 without sliding it along the dock.

Of course, once the stack of cartons 82 is properly positioned relativeto the carrier, it could be caused to slide onto the carrier 50 by aseparate pushing or pulling mechanism that does not require the presenceof the lift truck. It should be noted that the pushing mechanism shouldbe configured to push the cartons from the pallet without pushing thepallet at the same time.

Still referring to the method of this embodiment, once the carrier 50 isloaded, the ship's gear 12 can lift it into the hold of the ship 10.When the carrier 50 has been landed in the hold, as shown in FIG. 6, aload push lift truck 80 is then used to lift the stack of cartons offthe carrier 50 and to transport the cartons to the storage location. Atthis stage, either of two approaches may be taken. The load push lifttruck 80 may initially deposit the stack of cartons 82 in their finalstowage location, with a view to stevedores subsequently filling theremaining space atop the stack from a lift-truck-deposited stack ofcartons 82 nearby, or the lift truck may deposit the stack in aconvenient location with a view to the stevedores breaking down thestack into two or more shorter stacks on top of which the load push lifttruck 80 may deposit a full stack of cartons 82, the combined height ofthe hand-stacked and lift-truck-deposited cartons filling the availablevertical space (see FIG. 26).

Of course, if the height of the hold space will accommodate two stacksof cartons 82, then the lift truck 80 may deposit both such stacks ofcartons 82 in their final stowage location. Providing the load push lifttruck 80 with side shift capability allows for greater precision in theplacement of the stacks of cartons 82. Such side shift mechanisms shiftthe carrier and forks of a lift truck 80 laterally, usually by means ofa hydraulic cylinder.

Two lift trucks 80 may be used to remove the stacks of cartons 82 fromthe carrier 50, so that the carrier may be quickly returned to the dockfor further loading. The cycle time of the ship's gear 12 or cranelifting the carrier can be significantly increased if the loading orunloading of the carrier 50 is delayed. If the carrier 50 is designed tocarry more than two stacks of cartons 82, of course, more lift trucksmay be used simultaneously to unload it, thereby minimizing the time thecarrier 50 remains in the hold. Similarly, the time the carrier remainson the dock can be reduced by using multiple lift trucks 80 in theloading of the carrier 50.

In order to deposit a stack of cartons 82 on the floor of the cargohold, the lift truck operator moves the stack 82 into the desiredposition and lowers the blades of the lift truck to the floor. Ifnecessary, the side shift function can be used to position the stack inabutting relation with an adjacent stack or wall. The lift truckoperator then simultaneously actuates the load push mechanism and eitherbacks the lift truck away from the location or allows the load pushmechanism to push the lift truck back from the stack (assuming the frontof the stack is engaged with another stack or with a wall). The processfor depositing a stack of cartons 82 on top of another partial or fullstack is the same, except the lift truck positions the bladesimmediately above the full or partial stack on top of which the fullstack is to be deposited.

For stowage in irregular spaces, such as adjacent a sloping wall, inspaces too small for a full stack to be inserted or the like, the lifttruck may deposit a full stack of cartons near such stowage location andthe stevedores can stow the cartons in such areas by hand.

With reference to FIG. 9, when substantially all of the cargo hold hasbeen filled, apart from the square of the hatch, the lift truck(s) andcarrier 50 are removed from the hold, and the square of the hatch isfilled by depositing stacks of cartons lifted by cargo slings directlyinto the square of the hatch using the ship's gear 12. Some manualstowage of cartons will likely be necessary, of course, as the ceilingheight under the closed hatch may not be fillable merely by loading fullstacks of cartons one on top of another.

In another embodiment of the invention, the carrier 50 may be used onthe dock to depalletize and provide slings about the stacks of cartons82 to be deposited directly into the square of the hatch without the useof slip sheets. As shown in FIG. 7, slings 90 may be prepositioned inthe fork channels 66 prior to pushing the stack of cartons 82 onto thecarrier 50, or may be drawn through the fork channels 66 after loadingof the carrier by means of a rod with a hooked end or the like. The forkchannels 66 of the carrier 50 provide a convenient means for positioningthe slings and provide the ability to add the slings either before orafter loading of the carrier. The carrier 50 may also be used as adepalletizer in a refrigerated warehouse or in other locations, as aload push lift truck 80 may extend its forks through the fork channels66 and lift the stack of cartons 82 from the carrier 50.

As shown in FIG. 8, once the carrier 50 is loaded with stacks of cartons82, as previously described, and once the slings 90 are positioned withrespect to the stacks of cartons 82, a spreader bar 92 mounted on thehook 64 at the end of the cable 14 of the ship's gear 12 may be used tolift the stacks of cartons 82 into the ship's hold. A plurality of hooks94 are attached to the spreader bar 92 by lengths of cable 96 forengaging the eyes of the cargo slings 90 for lifting of the stacks ofcartons 82. If the slings 90 are properly positioned relative to thestack of cartons 82, the stacks of cartons 82 will swing toward oneanother into abutting relation after they have been lifted free of thecarrier 50 by the ship's gear 12. The stacks of cartons 82 may then bedeposited in the square of the hatch directly into their stowagelocation by the ship's gear, as shown in FIG. 9. While it may appearthat the cartons of the stack 82 would fall from the bottom of the stackwhen lifted by slings or the blades of a lift truck, it has been foundthat they do not tend to do so even when the stack of cartons 82 is notwrapped with the stretch wrap material.

Of course, the slings used to load the stacks of cartons into the squareof the hatch may be left in the cargo hold, and this will facilitate theoffloading of the vessel. In such case, the cost of the cargo slings isoffset by the lower labor and other costs achieved by the practice offilling the square of the hatch in this manner.

In another embodiment of the invention, however, as shown in FIG. 9, ithas been found that the slings 90 may be recovered by lowering thespreader bar 92 sufficiently to remove tension from the slings 90,unhooking one end of the slings 90 from the hooks 94 and then drawingthe slings. 90 from about the stacks of cartons 92 by lifting thespreader bar 92 using the ship's gear 12. In order to avoid urging thestacks of cartons 82 so deposited out of an abutting relationship withadjacent stacks, the ends 98 of the slings which are released may bethose which run between the deposited stacks of cartons and the adjacentstacks, as shown in FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 10, the eyes in cargo slings 90 are frequently made byfolding the end portion 100 of the web material of which the sling ismade back over a portion of the web material 102 in a loop and sewing orotherwise bonding the end portion 100 to the portion 102. In oneembodiment, cargo slings for use in loading the square of the hatch aremade of a thinner material to avoid providing an excessively thickoverlapping portion, and the edge 104 of the end portion 104 is securelyfastened to the portion 102 of the sling 90 to reduce the tendency ofthe edge 104 to catch and peel away from the portion 102 when the sling90 is drawn between two abutting stacks of cartons. The end of the sling90 may also be cut at a diagonal before looping it back and affixing itto the portion 102.

Of course, the carrier 50 or a modification thereof (e.g., one in whichthe triangular top portion 58 of the center stop 54 was removed, or inwhich the entire center stop 54 itself was absent) could be used todepalletize and provide slings around stacks of cartons 82. These slungstacks of cartons could then be lifted into a ship 10, landed on alanding pad, and stowed by a side shift load push lift truck in themanner described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,198 to Coblentz. That is, alanding pad such as that shown in FIG. 14, 15, 27 (or multiples of sucha landing pad, as needed, in the event that multiple stacks of cartons82 are lifted at one time, e.g., as shown in FIG. 8) could be providedin the hold, the slung stacks of cartons could be deposited on thelanding pad, the slings could be removed from the stack of cartons bypulling them through the channels in the landing pad, and a load pushlift truck could remove the stacks of cartons from the landing pad byinserting its blades into the fork channels of the landing pad andraising the blades. The stack of cartons could then be stowed using thelift truck as hereinbefore described. As with the landing of stacks ofcartons in the square of the hatch, one end of each of the slings 90 maybe removed from the hooks 94, and the ship's gear 12 may then pull theslings through the channels formed in the landing pad and return them todockside for reuse. .

FIG. 11 depicts a lightweight carrier 110 that may be connected to aship's gear by the lift ring 112. The carrier 110 comprises a spreaderbar 114 connected to the lift ring 112 by two cables 116, 118. Aplurality of hooks 120 are mounted into the spreader bar 114.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the carrier 110 further comprises a base122 on which are mounted a plurality of supports 124, which are ofsufficient height to form channels 126 extending across the base 122under the stacks of cartons 82. The supports 124 are of sufficient widthand depth to permit the blades of a lift truck to be inserted into thechannels 126 formed between them.

As can be seen from FIGS. 11 and 12, the stacks of cartons are arrangedin a three-two carton stacking pattern commonly used for stackingcartons of frozen chicken on a standard 40 by 48 inch (102×122 cm)pallet 30 with the 48 inch face of the stacks of cartons 82 being shownin FIG. 11 and the 40 inch face being shown in FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 13, the three-two pattern comprises three cartons 128arranged side-by-side with their long edges abutting one another. Twocartons 130 are arranged in end-to-end relation beside the row of thethree cartons 128.

Cartons 128, 130 arranged in this manner (e.g., as the bottom layer of astack of cartons 82) may be lifted from the 40 inch (102 cm) sides ofthe pattern by inserting two slings or two lift truck blades under them,for example, in the two lifting zones 132 shown in phantom in FIG. 13.Three slings or three lift truck blades could be inserted under thecartons of 128, 130 from the 48 inch (122 cm) side of the three-twopattern of cartons 128, 130 by supporting them, for example, in the inthe lifting zones 133 of which extended transversely to be lifting zones131 and are likewise shown in phantom. When lifting a stack of cartonswith the bottom layer stacked in this manner using slings or lift truckforks extending from one of the wider (48 inch-122 cm) sides of thepattern, for security in lifting, three slings or fork platens should beused so that each of the three side-to-side cartons 128 is supported byone of the slings or platens.

Referring again to FIGS. 11 and 12, the base 122 is connected to thespreader bar 114 by cables 132 which extend from connection points alongthe spreader bar 114 to either side of the base 122 (best shown in FIG.12). The carrier thus provides three load areas 134, 136, 138, each ofwhich is bounded on either side by two of the four pairs of cables 132.The need for stiffness of the base 122 is thus reduced, as the weight ofthe three stacks of cartons 82 is supported at four locations along thelength of each side of the base 122 rather than only in the middle of orat the opposite ends of the base 122. This permits the weight of thebase 134 to be sufficiently low to allow for the lifting of the threestacks of cartons 82 into the hold of a ship with a three-ton ship'sgear 12 or crane. Of course, the inner two of the four pair of cables132 could be eliminated if a base of sufficient stiffness is provided.Of course, depending on the capacity of the loading crane, a base 122could be fashioned to allow for the loading of two, four or othernumbers of stacks of cartons. Further, the depth of the base 122 couldbe extended to allow loading of two stacks of cartons, one behind theother, to provide for the lifting of four stacks of cartons in a 2×2pattern, or six stacks of cartons in a 3×2 pattern.

The carrier 110 may be loaded by a single load push lift truck makingthree trips to load the three stacks of cartons in each of the threeload. To do so, the lift truck would position each stack of cartons 82on its pallet 30 adjacent to one of the load areas 134, 136, 138 of thecarrier 110 and use the load push mechanism to push the cartons off thepallet 30 and onto the carrier 110 in like manner as described above,and in a direction generally parallel to the boards 40 comprising theupper surface of the pallet 30 so that the lower surface of the cartonsis not abraded excessively.

Of course, if the sum of the thickness of the supports 124 and the base122 is less than the height of a pallet 30, the pallet 30 may be restedon the surface of the dock proximate to or abutting the carrier 110while the stack of cartons 82 is pushed from the pallet 30 onto thecarrier 110. In such case, the stack of cartons 82 could be pushed ontothe carrier 110 without having to rise over the edge of the supports124. This facilitates the process of pushing stacks of cartons 82 ontothe carrier 110.

If the combined height of the base 122 and supports 124 is greater thanthe height of a pallet 30, the tops of the supports 124 could be angleddownward for a short distance at their ends to provide anupwardly-inclined ramp extending from a height lower than or equal tothe height of a standard pallet. In such case, even if the upper surfaceof the pallet were lower than the height of the center portion of theupper surface of the supports 124, the edge of the stack of cartons 82would slide up the ramped surface of the supports 124 as the stack 82 ispushed onto the carrier by the load push mechanism or other mechanism.

After the stack of cartons has been pushed from the pallet 30 onto thecarrier, the blades of the lift truck are still extended under thepallet 30. The lift truck may then retract the load push mechanism,raise the blades, carry the pallet to a holding location where itdeposits the pallet 30, and then retrieve another pallet 30 (or multiplepallets 30 in the case of a lift truck provided with multiple sets offorks) carrying a stack (or stacks) of cartons 82 for loading onto thecarrier.

To facilitate loading, the carrier may be positioned adjacent a stop140, such as the curb commonly found along the edge of a dock, or abackstop could be positioned adjacent the landing area for the carrier.The backstop may be of concrete, steel or other materials, so long as itis of sufficient mass and has sufficient traction on the dock to resistany tendency of the carrier 110 to slide backwards when being loaded.The backstop should be capable of engaging the base of the carrier toprevent its sliding and may have a planar vertical surface for resistingthe sliding of at least the first layer of cartons in the stack 82 offthe back of the carrier. This will make it easier for the operator ofthe lift truck to avoid pushing the cartons beyond the back edge of thecarrier and to prevent the carrier from sliding away from the lift truckas the stack of cartons are pushed onto it.

The speed of loading may be increased by use of a load push lift truckhaving three pairs of forks and being capable of lifting three stacks ofcartons 82 at a time. The stacks of cartons 82 may be positioned withsufficient space between them that the lift truck can pick up threestacks of cartons 82 and push them onto the carrier 110 at the same timewith the load push mechanism. Alternatively, however, the liftingmechanism of the load push lift truck could be equipped with a sideshift mechanism that moves the outer pairs of blades laterally inunison, and may also be provided with a shifter mechanism that permitsthe two outer pairs of forks to be moved respectively to the right andleft away from the center forks. In such case, the lift truck could pickup three stacks of cartons 82 that are positioned side to side, and, ifthe base has pairs of cables 132 extending between the load areas 134,136 and 136, 138, the shifter mechanism could be used to add the spacebetween the stacks 82 needed for the stacks of cartons 82 to clear themiddle two pairs of cables 132 that support the base 122 of the carrier.The side shift mechanism could be of assistance in positioning the threestacks 82 laterally with respect to the carrier 110 so that theclearance between the stacks 82 are centered on the middle two pairs ofcables 132.

The carrier 110 may then be lifted into the hold 20 of a ship 10 usingthe ship's gear 12 or other crane. Once in the hold, three-blade lifttrucks may be used to unload the carrier by inserting their blades intothe channels 126 beneath the stacks of cartons and carrying them tostowage locations as described above. For greater efficiency, the lifttrucks may be load push lift trucks that can then deposit the stacks ofcartons 82 directly into desired stowage locations. Of course, whenpicking the stack of cartons 82 up from one of the the 48″ side, athree-blade lift truck can provide support to each of the threeside-by-side cartons the ends of which abut one another along the 48″side of the stack. The three-blade lift truck may also be used to liftstacks of cartons 82 from one of the 40″ sides of a stack, provided thecarrier or landing pad has fork channels that will accommodate the useof three blades (see, e.g., the landing pad of FIG. 27).

It has also been found that using three lift truck blades to lift astack of cartons in the hold of a ship can be beneficial in the carryingand maneuvering of the stack of cartons into a stowage location. Inorder to prevent thawing of frozen products during loading, the holdsmay be maintained at a sub-freezing temperature, and ice can form on theblades of a lift truck. During transportation of the stack of cartons 82in the hold by a lift truck, the stack of cartons may thus slidelaterally relative to the lift truck under such icing conditions. Suchshifting has been found to be less likely and less serious when thecartons are supported during transportation by three blades rather thantwo. Modification of the blades to resist lateral sliding may alsopresent a solution to this problem. Flanges or channels runninglengthwise along the blade can provide additional resistance to lateralshifting of stacks of cartons on the blades.

When two such lift trucks are used in the hold of a ship, invariably oneof them is working in greater proximity to the landing zone in which thecartons are deposited. Thus, one of the lift trucks will frequentlyreturn for another load before the other. Thus, it may be desirable tocarry three or more stacks of cartons into the hold at a time when usingtwo lift trucks in the hold depending on how quickly the lift trucks canstow them. The addition of a third lift truck may improve the cycle timeof the carrier 110 between the hold and dock, since the carrier may beunloaded more quickly.

The base 122 and spreader bar 114 may be shortened or lengthened asdesired to accommodate greater or lesser numbers of stacks of cartons orto accommodate wider or narrower stacks of cartons in other stackpatterns. A base similar to the base 122 may also be used in anotherembodiment of the invention for palletless loading of other cargocarriers or for cargo storage facilities, as described in greater detailbelow.

As mentioned above, a carrier 110 may also be used to depalletize andprovide slings around stacks of cartons. The need for the crane orship's gear 12 to wait for the lift trucks in the hold of a ship tounload a carrier is not present if stacks of cartons 82 are lifted intothe hold using slings and landed on a landing pad as described above,since one end of each of the slings may be unhooked from the associatedhook and the slings may be drawn from around the stack of cartons 82even if the lift trucks have not returned to the landing area to carrythe stacks of cartons 82 away.

FIGS. 14 and 15 depict two such landing pads 140, 142 that areconfigured to receive up to one stack and three stacks of cartons 82,respectively, at a time. The landing pads 140, 142 of this embodimentcomprise a rectangular base 144 on which are mounted a plurality ofparallel supports 148 that can support stacks of cartons. The width andlocations of the spacers 148 on the base 144 are chosen such that astack or stacks of cartons 82 landed squarely on the landing pad 140,142 will be supported in a manner to permit lifting of the stack orstacks of cartons 82 by inserting the blades of a lift truck under thestack to be lifted and lifting it from the landing pad 140, 142. Thestack of cartons 82 may then be carried to a stowage location anddeposited as described above, and as shown in FIG. 26.

The channels 150 formed between the spacers 148 on the landing pads 140,142 must be of sufficient depth that the forks of a lift truck can beinserted under the stack of cartons, and must be of sufficient width toreceive such blades. As the blades of a lift truck are generally thickerand wider than cargo slings, such dimensions allow the slings to bepulled through the channels without significant resistance.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the landing pads 140, 142 are configuredfor use by three-blade lift trucks for removal of stacks of cartonsstacked in a three-two pattern as discussed above. That is, the edges ofthe base 144 perpendicular to the long axis of the spacers 148 are,respectively, about one and three times 48 inches (122 cm) in length.Multiple units of the one-stack landing pad 140 could be bolted orotherwise fastened or positioned together to form a landing pad ofsufficient length to receive multiple stacks of cartons 82 if thedimensions of the base 144 and spacers 148 are appropriately chosen.

The landing pad 140, 142 could be provided with two channels extendingtransversely to the supports 148 and channels 150, so that two-bladelift trucks could be used to unload stacks of cartons from the sides ofthe landing pads 140, 142 having only two channels therein. However, theforks of a two blade lift truck would not typically be of sufficientlength to allow their insertion under the center stack of cartons on thethree-stack landing pad 142 from either of the ends of the landing pad142, as the forks would have to be 96 inches (244 cm) in length to reachcompletely under the stack of cartons 82 in the center position. Alanding pad configured to receive three or more stacks of cartons 82 andto have the stacks unloaded by two blade lift trucks from the long edgethereof could be made by adjusting the dimensions of the base 144 of thelanding pad, the location of the mounting of the supports and the widthand thickness of the supports to provide for landing and lifting ofstacks of cartons 82 using two slings and two blades, respectively.

While the carrier 50 or the base 122 of the carrier 110 or other suchstructure may be used to depalletize and provide slings about stacks ofcartons 82 at dockside for lifting into the hold of a ship, it is alsopossible for the crane or ship's gear to be held up waiting for a fullload of stacks of cartons to be readied for lifting into the hold of theship. Multiple carriers 50 or bases 122 or the like could be used toprovide surge capacity for the crane or ship's gear. However, it is moreefficient for a crane or ship's gear to return to a single locationrather than having to return to multiple locations. In particular, gearused on many ships includes twin booms, one positioned over the hatchand one positioned over the loading area. Winches on each boom take inor let out their cable, as appropriate, to lift or land cargo atspecific, chosen locations, so that little effort is required to pick upand deposit cargo at the two chosen locations.

n another embodiment of the invention, and referring to FIGS. 16-19,surge capacity for picking up one or more stacks of cartons at a time isprovided by use of a roller deck that may also provide queuing capacity.The roller decks of FIGS. 16-19 may be loaded either from the side orfrom the end, as discussed below. As shown in FIG. 16, a roller deck 160according to this embodiment comprises a base 162 on which a pluralityof rollers 164 are rotatably mounted. The rollers 164 are mounted withtheir rotational axes transverse to the long edge of the base 162, andmay be of a length sufficient to extend across the entire width of theroller deck 160, or may be segmented or may consist of a plurality ofseparate wheels rotatably mounted on the roller deck 160 with parallelrotational axes. At the lifting end 166 of the base, channels 168 areformed between sections of rollers 164 by spacing the rollers 164sufficiently that a cargo sling 170 or the blades of a lift truck can beinserted into the channels 168. The upper portion of the long edge ofthe base 160 could be cut away at the location of such channels toprovide additional depth for insertion of the blades of a lift truck.

If desired, channels could be formed by using segmented rollers spacedto form channels transverse to their rotational axes, aligned portionsin which the diameter of the rollers is decreased sufficiently to formuseful channels, or, where wheels are used as rollers, the wheels couldbe omitted in certain areas to form such channels, such that lift truckblades or slings could be extended under the stack of cartons.

The base 160 may be made in several sections, such as a lifting section172, a queuing section 174, and a loading section 176 for convenienttransportation and storage of the apparatus. Of course, the queuing andloading sections 174, 176 could be eliminated if queuing is not desired,and the lifting section 172 could be loaded directly by the lift trucksHowever, this embodiment of the invention will be described inconnection with a base 160 having lifting, queuing and loading sections172, 174, 176 as it may be advantageous in many circumstances to providethe queuing capacity to reduce the likelihood that either the crane orthe loading lift truck will be required to wait for action by the other.

These sections 172, 174, 176 could be aligned and fastened together, asby using bolts or pins, when the roller deck 160 is to be used. Multipleloading and lifting sections 172, 176 could be provided with differentpatterns of spacing of the channels 168 that could be selected accordingto the particular needs of the ship and cargo. These sections 172 couldbe attached to the other sections as desired, to provide flexibility tothe planners based on considerations relating to the cargo, the ship,the available lift truck and other equipment and other factors.Different slinging or lift truck blade spacings could then be used tolift stacks of cartons 82 from the roller deck 160, as desired. Thewidth of the roller deck 160 should be chosen to accommodate the widthof the various stacks of cartons and other articles that may bedeposited thereon.

An end stop 180 may be mounted to the base at the lifting end 166 of theroller deck 160. The stop 180 limits the travel of stacks of cartons 82or the like along the bed of rollers 162 of the roller deck 160, andallows the repeatable positioning of the stacks of cartons for liftingfrom the roller deck 160 for stowage. The stop 180 should be ofsufficient strength, width and height that it can stop the travel of astack of cartons 82 traveling along the roller deck 160 at a normalvelocity without causing damage, excessive distortion of the stack (asby one or more layers of cartons sliding relative to other layers) orloss of cartons from the upper layers.

The upper surface 184 of the roller deck may be level or inclined. Ifthe roller bed is sufficiently inclined, the stacks of cartons can rollfrom the loading end 182 of the roller deck 160 to the lifting end 166without the need for any mechanism to urge them toward the stop 180. Theroller deck 160 may be built with such an incline, may be supported by aplurality of adjustable legs (not shown) along its length, or may havespacers inserted beneath the base 162 at positions along its length tosupport the base 162 and upper surface Should any of the stacks ofcartons 82 require assistance to reach the lifting end 166 of the rollerdeck 160, the incline facilitates the manual pushing of the stack 82 tothe lifting end 166 of the roller deck by a worker or workers. A workermay also be tasked with pushing the stacks of cartons along the rollers162 of a level roller bed 160 having a level upper surface 182, or therollers could be powered to move stacks of cartons along the bed.

Stacks of cartons 82 may be loaded onto the roller deck 160 from theside. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, a pallet table 190 may be provided tofacilitate the positioning of pallets 30 bearing stacks of cartons 82relative the roller deck 160 at the appropriate height and in theappropriate plane. The pallet table 190 may be bolted or otherwiseaffixed to the roller deck 160, in which case, the vertical distancebetween the upper surface 192 of the pallet table and the adjacent uppersurface 184 of the roller deck 160 should be approximately equal to thethickness of a pallet so that the bottom of a stack of cartons beingpushed from the pallet 30 onto the roller deck 160 will not have to risein the process of the transfer from the pallet 30 to the roller deck160.

The pallet table 190 may be supported by adjustable legs 194 whichsupport it at the appropriate height and tilt relative to the surface ofthe dock and the plane of the adjacent upper surface 182 of the rollerdeck 160. The legs 194 may include a screw portion 196 that may berotated to adjust the length of the leg 194. A nut 198 may be affixed tothe screw portion 196 of the legs 194 to facilitate adjustment thereof.A plurality of such legs 194 may be used to support the base.

The plane of the upper surface 192 of the pallet table 190 may either belevel with the surface on which it is placed, such as a dock, or leveledwith the upper surface 184 of the roller deck 160 or otherwise. If theupper surface 184 of the roller deck 160 is tilted with respect to thesurface on which it is placed, then the legs 194 may be adjusted to tiltthe upper surface 192 of the pallet table 190 such that it is in a planeparallel to that of the upper surface 184 of the roller deck 160.Depending on the width of the pallet table, one or more stacks ofcartons 82 may be pushed onto the loading section 172 of the roller deck160 at a time, as shown in FIG. 16.

A pallet stop 200 may be attached at the rear portion of the pallettable. A pallet 30 may be pushed into engagement with the pallet stop200 such that it is proximate to a roller 202 rotatably mounted eitherto the roller deck 160 or to the pallet table 190. To facilitateloading, the upper surface of the roller 202 may be mounted such that itis equal to or higher than the plane of the upper surface 184 defined bythe rollers 164 of the loading end 182 of the roller deck 160.

A loading stop 206 may be mounted to the roller deck 160 along the edgeopposite to the pallet table 190. The loading stop should be ofsufficient height and width to stop stacks of cartons from moving toofar across the roller deck 160 and to provide indexing for the stacks ofcartons 182 to align them with the long axis of the roller deck.

One or more stops 208, 210 may be provided to limit the travel of stacksof cartons 82 along the roller deck 160. Many different types of stopsmay be used. In the present embodiment, two flag stops 208, 210 areprovided. These stops comprise a square tubular receiver 212 mounted tothe roller deck 160, and a flag stop portion 213 comprising a squaretube shaft 214 that can be inserted into the receiver 212, a flagportion 216 mounted on the shaft for engaging stacks of cartonstraveling along the roller deck 160 and a handle 218 for removing theflag stop portion 213 from engagement with the receiver 212. The shaft214 may be inserted into the receiver such that the flag portion 216extends transversely over the rollers 164 of the roller deck 160 forstopping movement of stacks of cartons 82 along the roller deck 160, andmay be removed from the receiver 212, rotated from such orientation andinserted such that the flag portion does not block the progress ofstacks of cartons 82 moving along the roller deck 160. Other types ofstops, such as stops insertable into, or raisable above the uppersurface of, the roller deck 160 through gaps between adjacent rollers,roller brakes that stop rotation of one or more rollers at desired stoplocations and the like may also be used. Alternatively, sections ofrollers 164 could be selectively powered to rotate and move the stacksof cartons 82 along the roller bed 160 to desired locations.

If the upper surface 192 of the pallet table is tilted relative to theplane of the surface on which the pallet table 190 is positioned, awheel ramp 218 may be positioned proximate to the higher side of thepallet table 190 such that a wheel of the lift truck 220 can be drivenonto it to tilt the lift truck by an angle to level the forks of thelift truck with the pallet table 190.

The roller deck 160 of the present embodiment may be used as followsload push lift truck carrying one or more stacks of cartons 82 onpallets 30 raises the pallets 30 above the level of the upper surface192 of the pallet table 190, positions the stacks of cartons above thepallet table 190 and lowers the pallets 30 onto the upper surface 192 ofthe table 190. The operator of the lift truck 220 then engages the loadpush mechanism 222 of the lift truck to push the push plate 224 forwardrelative to the pallet table and slide the stacks of cartons 82 over theroller 202 and onto the roller deck. The stacks of cartons 82 may bepushed into engagement with the load stop 206 to align them with thelong axis of the roller deck 160. The stacks of cartons then move or aremoved along the roller deck to a position intermediate the ends 166, 182of the roller deck 160 where they may be held by the flag stop 210 andqueued for moving to the lifting end 166 of the roller deck.

Cargo slings 170 may be placed in the channels 168 prior to movement ofstacks of cartons 82 into position above them, or may be pushed orpulled through the channels 168 between the rollers by a hooked rod orthe like. Once the desired number of stacks of cartons 82 are moved intoposition, with the endmost stack 82 abutting the end stop 180, the endsof the cargo slings 170 may be attached to the cargo hooks 230 of aspreader bar 232. The spreader bar 232 can then lift the stacks ofcartons off the roller deck 160 and carry them into the hold of a ship.Alternatively, the stacks of cartons could be removed from the rollerdeck by a lift truck, that would insert its blades into the channels 168and lift the stack or stacks of cartons 82 from the roller deck.

Further, the roller deck could be modified in the lifting zone bysegmenting the rollers such that a plurality of axially aligned rollersextend across the roller deck 160, and providing space between suchrollers to form channels therebetween for slings or lift truck bladesextending transversely of the rotational axes of the rollers 164.Rollers could also be formed with reduced diameters at selectedlocations to form such channels, or, if the rollers comprise a pluralityof wheels, such wheels could be spaced or omitted to form such channels.Such channels may be in addition to or in lieu of the channels 168 intowhich slings or lift truck blades may be extended. In order tofacilitate use of the channels extending transversely to the rotationalaxis of the rollers 164, the backstop 180 may be eliminated or modifiedso that it did not interfere with the inserting of the slings or lifttruck blades into the channels or the lifting of the stack of cartonsfrom the roller bed 160. Flag stops, or a series of upstanding stopscould be used for this purpose. Such a roller bed 160 could be used inthe hold of a ship or elsewhere to provide a landing pad with queuing.In such case, channels parallel and perpendicular to the rollers couldbe provided that would allow the landing of multiple stacks of cartons82 on the roller deck 160 at one end, and the lifting of such stacks ofcartons at that end or at the other end. In the latter case, the stacksof cartons could be rolled along the bed 160 to the other end to makeroom for the landing of more stacks of cartons 82 on the one end.

The roller deck 160 can be made in various lengths. Longer roller decks160 can provide queuing of stacks of cartons to reduce delays of theship's gear or other crane mechanism in waiting for a complete load tobe presented. In the present embodiment, moreover, the roller deck 160may be loaded with two stacks of cartons 82 at a time, while thespreader bar is adapted to carry three stacks of cartons 82 at a time.Thus, with its third load, the lift truck 220 would have deposited twoloads for the crane or ship's gear to carry into the hold of the ship.

It should be noted that the normal three-two stacking pattern of cartonson a 40″×48″ (102 cm×122 cm) and the orientation of the boards formingthe top of the pallet may result in the slings 90 passing under thestack of cartons in the 40″ (102 cm) direction. In such case, threeslings 90 would be needed per stack 82, as the three side-by-sidecartons of a layer should each be supported by a separate sling. Whenslinging under the 48″ (122 cm) width of the stack 82, only two slingsare needed.

End loading of a roller deck 160 can be accomplished by positioning thepallet table 190 adjacent the end of the roller deck 160, as shown inFIGS. 18 and 19. Referring to FIG. 19, the pallet table 190 may be madeto accommodate two pallets at a time to be received from a double-wideload push lift truck 220. The double-wide roller deck 160 can be made asa double-wide unit, or may comprise two single-wide units that arepositioned side by side. The slings 90 used to lift two stacks ofcartons at a time, of course, would be longer than required for liftinga single stack of cartons at a time. The stretch-wrapping of the stacksof cartons 82 can facilitate the lifting of two stacks of cartons 82 ata time by a single pair (or set of three) cargo slings 90.

As mentioned above, despite the weight of the stacks of cartons 82, thebase 52, 122 may be used to depalletize them without the need for use ofa slipsheet. Stacks of cartons 82 could be lifted into the hold of aship from the base 50, 122 or from depalletizer platforms having similarchannels for slings and/or lift truck forks. Referring to FIGS. 20, 20Aand 21, such depalletizer platforms 240 may include a base 242 having aplurality of supports 244 similar in function to the supports 124, 148of the carrier 110 and landing pads 140, 142. A backstop 246 may beprovided to assist the operator of a lift truck 220 to position stacksof cartons on the upper surfaces of the supports 244 of the depalletizerplatform 240. The platform 240 could also be positioned adjacent a curbor free-standing backstop, as described in connection with the carrier110 of FIG. 11 to facilitate loading and to resist sliding of thedepalletizer platform 240. The base 242 of the depalletizer platform 240may also include a pallet apron 248 of sufficient size that the wheelsof a lift truck carrying a loaded pallet 30 would be driven onto aportion of the apron 248 when a pallet 30 is moved into abutment withthe outermost of the spacers 244. The weight of the lift truck 220bearing on the apron 248 should control any tendency of the depalletizer240 to slide away from the lift truck 220 as the stack of cartons 82 ispushed from the pallet 30 onto the depalletizer 240. The outward-facingedge (the edge remote from the backstop 246) of the supports 244 may bebeveled to facilitate pushing of the stack of cartons 82 onto thesupports 244. The lift truck 220 may then retract the load pushmechanism, lift the empty pallet on the blades of the lift truck 220 andtake the empty pallet to a holding or stowage location.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 20 and 21, the depalletizer isconfigured to hold a stack of cartons 82 with a width of 48″ (122 cm),the width extending parallel to the backstop 246, and a depth of 40″(102 cm). However, it could be configured to receive stacks of othersizes or orientations as desired.

In use, a load push lift truck positions a palletized stack of cartons82 with the far edge of the pallet 30 adjacent the outermost of thesupports 244. The load push mechanism is then engaged, pushing the stackof cartons 82 from the pallet 30 onto the upper surfaces of the supports244. Slings can be positioned in the transverse channels 250 orlongitudinal channels 252 to lift the stack of cartons 82 from thedepalletizer. However, the stack 82 may also be removed from thedepalletizer by the blades of a lift truck inserted into the transverseor longitudinal channels 250, 252 formed between the spacers 244. Forlifting a 40″×48″ (102 cm×122 cm) stack of cartons 82 from the front ofthe depalletizer 240, with the 48 inch (122 cm) edge being the frontedge of the stack 82, a three-blade lift truck may be used with thetransverse spacing of its blades adjusted such that each one supports aseparate one of the three side-to-side cartons in the bottom layer ofthe stack of cartons 82. A two- or three-blade lift truck 220 may beused to lift the stack of cartons 82 from the depalletizer 240 byinserting its blades into the transverse channels 250.

The depalletizer platform 240 could be configured with a depth of 48inches (122 cm) and a width of 40 inches (102 cm) if desired, and if thepallet 30 is provided with a smooth upper surface, such as a plastic,plywood or metallic surface that permits pushing the stack of cartons 82off the pallet 30 in a direction parallel to the 48″ (102 cm) edge ofthe pallet 30. The depalletizer platform 240 could also be sufficientlywide to accept multiple stacks of cartons 82 at a time. As shown in FIG.20A, rollers 245 (or a plurality of wheels) could be used in a platformin place of the supports 244 to facilitate loading, with channels 251being formed between rollers by segmenting each of the rollers into aplurality of segments and providing space between segments that canreceive the blades 290 of a lift truck 220, by using wheels as rollers,and omitting and/or spacing the wheels apart in the areas where channelsare desired, and so forth. An upstanding plate or series of plates 253may be attached to the base 242 to provide a pallet stop against which apallet to be unloaded may be placed.

In one embodiment of the invention, a depalletizer platform 240 is usedfor the loading of a shipping container or the like. The interior widthof refrigerated shipping containers varies. Containers with interiorwidths of from a little more than 88 inches (224 cm) to more than 90inches (229 cm) may be found. Such containers may be loaded bydepositing pairs of stacks (or rows of stacks) of cartons 82 in theirinterior side by side with the 40 inch (102 cm) side of the stack 82being oriented perpendicular to the side wall of the container (“40+40loading”). The remainder of the width may be hand stacked in theremaining space between the stacks 82 or between a stack 82 and the wallof the container. The stacks 82 could also be positioned with one stack(or row of stacks) having its 48 inch (122 cm) side and one stack 82 (orrow of stacks) with its 40 inch (102 cm) side perpendicular to the sidewalls of the container (“48+40 loading”).

As mentioned above, load push lift trucks that are used to push stacksof cartons 82 from the pallets onto a carrier 110 or depalletizerplatform 240 must have push mechanisms with sufficient clearance overthe blades so that the push mechanism does not engage both the stack ofcartons 82 and the upper portion of the pallet 30. The lift trucks thatlift the stacks of cartons 82 from a landing pad 140, 142, carrier 50,110 or depalletizer 240 have the bottom layer of the stack of cartons 82resting on the blades of the lift truck 220. As such, if the push plateof the lift truck has a clearance of, for example, 4 inches (10 cm) overthe blades, the push plate may not engage the bottom layer of the stackof cartons. This may be particularly important in the event that thestack of cartons are not wrapped with plastic wrap or the like. Thus,the lift trucks used in the hold of a ship may have load push mechanismswith lower edges having less clearance over the blades.

In another embodiment of the invention, the loading of a container canbe accomplished using a depalletizer platform 240 and one or more lifttrucks 220. For 40+40 loading, a single, two blade load push lift truckcould be used as follows. The lift truck 220 positions a palletload ofcartons 82 on the depalletizer 240 and uses its load push mechanism topush the stack of cartons 82 onto the supports 244 of the depalletizer240. The lift truck 220 may then retract the load push mechanism anddeposit the pallet 30 in a holding area. The blades 272 of the lifttruck can then be inserted in the transverse channels 250 of thedepalletizer platform 240, and the stack of cartons 82 may be liftedfrom the depalletizer and carried to a stowage location in a containeror the like. The stack of cartons 82 may then be deposited in thestowage location using the load push mechanism of the lift truck.

For 48+40 loading, a two-blade and a three-blade lift truck could beused. The lift truck with three blades would insert its blades into thelongitudinal channels 252 of the depalletizer 240, and lift and carrythe stack of cartons 82 to its stowage location. The two blade lifttruck could then use the transverse channels 250 to insert its bladesunder a stack of cartons 82 and to lift and carry it into a container orthe like. The load push mechanism could then be used to deposit thestack of cartons 82 in the desired stowage location. A container couldthus have two parallel rows of 40 inch (102 cm) and 48 inch (122 cm)width, respectively. If the stacks of cartons 82 are of such height thatthey can be stacked on top of one another within the container, then asecond stack of cartons 82 may be brought into the container by the lifttruck 220 and deposited on top of a first such stack by the load pushlift truck. If the stacks of cartons 82 are of such height that theircombined height exceeds the interior height of the container, layers ofcartons may be removed from stacks of cartons 82 that have beendeposited in their stowage location and may be hand stowed to fill inother space in the container. After removal of sufficient layers ofcartons from the stack 82, a full stack can be deposited on top of theremaining layers in order to take advantage of the headspace in thecontainer.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the backstop of thedepalletizer 240 may be taller than a stack of cartons to facilitateplacing of one stack on top of another. In such case, the lift truck mayposition the pallet carrying a second stack of cartons 82 atapproximately the level of the top layer of cartons in a first stackthat is resting on the depalletizer 240. The load push mechanism maythen be used to push the stack of cartons 82 off the pallet and onto thetop of the first stack of cartons 82. If desired, one or more layers ofcartons could be removed from the first stack of cartons 82 so that thecombined height of the first and second stacks of cartons 82 are of thedesired final height, such as the maximum height of a stack of cartonsthat can be loaded into a cargo container.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a load pushmechanism is modified to include a gate section 282 on the lower edge ofthe push plate 280. The gate section 282 may be hydraulically activated,and may be of a type that does not interfere with the operation of theload push mechanism. For example, as shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, a hingedgate 284 or a telescoping gate 286 may be movable by one or morehydraulic cylinders 288 between positions in which the lower edge 298 ofthe gate 284, 286 is proximate to the blades 290 of the lift truck 220.

The gate 284, as shown in FIG. 24, is pivotably mounted to the pushplate 280 by a hinge 296. The hydraulic cylinder 288 is pivotablyconnected at its ends between the gate 284 and the push plate 280 suchthat, in its fully extended position, the push plate is pivoted to aposition in which it is parallel to the face of the push plate 280. Whenthe hydraulic cylinder 288 is retracted, the gate 284 is raised toprovide maximum clearance between the upper surface of the blades 290 ofthe lift truck 220 and the push plate 280. Thus, the gate 260 can belowered to engage the bottom layer of a stack of cartons 82 beingcarried on the forks 290 of a lift truck 220, for example, fordepositing in a stowage location, or it can be raised to provideclearance so that the push plate may be extended to push a stack ofcartons 82 from a pallet, for example, onto a depalletizer such ascarrier 50, 110, roller deck 160 or depalletizer 260 with the forks 290in the 4-way fork channels.

The gate 284 operates in a similar manner, except that it is slidablymounted in and telescopes into the lower portion of the push plate 280.The gate 286 is operated by one or more hydraulic cylinders, one end 288of which is mounted to the push plate 280 and the other end of which isconnected to the gate 286. The hydraulic cylinder 288 may be operated tomove the gate 286 vertically toward and away from the blades 290 of thelift truck 220. Multiple gates 284, 286 may be used along the bottomedge of the push plate 280 if desired.

Where it is desired to use a load push lift truck 220 for pushing stacksof cartons 82 from pallets 30, the gate may be moved to its retractedposition. When a stack of cartons is carried directly on the blades 290of the lift truck 220, the gate may be lowered to ensure that the pushplate is able to engage the bottom layer of the stack of cartons 82.

Of course, other methods may be used to provide variable clearance overthe blades 290 of a load push lift truck. For example, the whole pushplate 280 could be vertically movable with respect to the load pushmechanism, or the load push mechanism itself could be vertically movablerelative to the lift mechanism, or the blades of the lift truck could belowerable (including by replacement of the blades) relative to the pushplate 280. In any case, the variable clearance over the blades of a lifttruck may permit the lift truck to be used both for depalletizing stacksof cartons 82 as well as for depositing the stacks of cartons in stowagelocations. For lift trucks dedicated to depalletizing or stowage ofstacks of cartons 82, an appropriate, fixed clearance of the push plate280 over the blades 290 may be chosen.

The low profile of the cartons normally used for frozen animal productspresent challenges if sufficient clearance is not provided. In the caseof pushing stacks of cartons from a pallet, too little clearance mayresult in the push plate 280 engaging the pallet rather than the stackof cartons 82. Too great a clearance, of course, may result inengagement of the push plate with the second layer of cartons in thestack 82, but not the first layer. This can result in sliding of thesecond and other layers of the stack of cartons 82 relative to the firstlayer.

While the present invention has been described with reference to variousembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatmodifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

1. A method of loading stacks of frozen animal products onto a shipwithout the use of slip sheets, the stacks of cartons being supported by4-way pallets having an upper surface comprising a plurality ofgenerally parallel boards, the method comprising: providing a carrier ina loading location adjacent a ship, the carrier having an edge along oneside adjacent a load area on the carrier; providing a stack of cartonsdirectly supported on a standard pallet adjacent the ship; positioningthe pallet and stack of cartons adjacent to the edge of the carrier withthe boards forming the upper surface of the pallet extending away fromthe edge of the carrier; applying a force to the stack of cartons toslide it from said pallet onto the load area of a carrier in a directionperpendicular to the edge of the carrier; and lifting the carrier intothe hold of a ship without the pallet.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: lifting the stack of cartons from the carrier using a loadpush lift truck; transporting the stack of cartons to a stowage locationusing a load push lift truck; and depositing the stack of cartons in astowage location using the load push mechanism of the load push lifttruck.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of sliding the stackof cartons further comprises the step of positioning the pallet adjacentthe edge of the carrier using a load push lift truck, and wherein thestep of applying a force to the stack of cartons comprises using theload push mechanism of the load push lift truck to apply a force to thestack of cartons.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of liftingsaid stack of cartons from said carrier comprises the steps of:providing a carrier having fork channels extending under the load areaof the carrier; inserting the blades of a load push lift truck into thefork channels; and lifting the stack of cartons from the carrier byraising the blades of the lift truck.
 5. The method of claim 3 whereinthe carrier includes at least two fork channels, and wherein the step ofsliding said stack of cartons onto the carrier further comprises thestep of sliding said stack of cartons over the fork channels.
 6. Themethod of claim 3 wherein the step of sliding said stack of cartons ontothe carrier further comprises the step of sliding said stack of cartonsover a plurality of fork channels extending parallel to the direction ofsliding of the stack of cartons.
 7. The method of claim 2 wherein thestep of depositing the stack of cartons in a stowage location furthercomprises the steps of: transporting the stack of cartons to a positionnear the stowage location with a side shift load push lift truck;shifting the stack of cartons laterally relative to the load push lifttruck using a side shift mechanism provided on the lift truck; movingthe stack of cartons out of engagement with the blades of the load pushlift truck using the load push mechanism of the lift truck.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the stack of cartons is wrapped in a plasticfilm prior to the commencement of the step of sliding the stack ofcartons from the pallet onto the carrier.
 9. The method of claim 1wherein the stack of cartons directly supported by the pallet ispositioned adjacent to the carrier such that the upper surface of thepallet is at least as high as the upper edge of the carrier.
 10. Acarrier for depalletizing and receiving stacks of cartons of frozenanimal product into the hold of a ship without the use of slip sheets,and for supporting such stacks of cartons for removal therefrom by aload push lift truck for stowage within the ship, the carriercomprising: a base having an upper surface, a plurality of fork channelsformed in the upper surface capable of receiving the blades of a loadpush lift truck for removal and stowage of the stack of cartons in thehold of the ship, the base further including a loading edge adjacent towhich a pallet bearing a stack of cartons of frozen animal products maybe positioned and over which such stack of cartons may be slid onto thecarrier from the pallet; and a connector for connecting the base to alifting device capable of lifting the carrier into the hold of a vessel.11. The carrier of claim 10 further comprising a pallet stop adjacentthe loading edge of the base for engaging an edge of a pallet from whichstacks of cartons are to be moved onto the carrier.
 12. The carrier ofclaim 10 wherein the height of the loading edge of the carrier is nogreater than the height of pallets from which stacks of cartons may beslid onto the carrier.
 13. The carrier of claim 10 wherein the palletstop is parallel to the long axis of the fork channels, wherein at leastone such fork channel has a wall remote from said pallet stop, andwherein such remote wall is angled upwardly and away from said palletstop.
 14. The carrier of claim 10 wherein the base includes at least twoareas for receiving stacks of cartons and wherein said connectorcomprises a center stop connected to the base between said two areas.15. The carrier of claim 14 wherein the height of said center stop isgreater than the height of stacks of cartons to be loaded onto saidcarrier.